


Melancholy Rhapsody

by Manen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: I'm so sorry, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, There is something wrong with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 08:27:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3761518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manen/pseuds/Manen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Within minutes, Japan was razed to the ground. People have been left to struggle for the most basic of necessities. Stealing, fighting, and killing have all become but a normal piece of life as even the closest of friends can turn into enemies. No one is safe, but with no way back they can only move forward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Melodies of the End

He sat alone on top of the charred remains of what could only be called ‘home’. One starts to consider a place as home when they’ve lived there for five months. It wasn’t like there was any other place he could bestow that title to.

It had been ten months. Ten months since the bombs were dropped on Tokyo and neighboring cities. To this day, no one knows who it was that dropped them on the unsuspecting citizens. No one knew who to ultimately blame for the destruction of Japan as a whole, leaving behind only burnt out cities and people simply struggling to survive.

The lands were barren, fires and natural disasters having spread rapidly after the bombs. It was a struggle to find food anywhere, nothing could be grown and there were few animals. Illness had taken more than anyone cared to estimate, and as thoughts of death ran through his mind he considered why it was he was alive. Out of everyone he had run into and cared for, why was he left alone?

_To tell the story._ The statement rang through his head in a voice filled with malice and sarcasm.

There were things he could be doing right now instead of thinking to himself. He could be searching the burnt building to find the bodies left inside, having never been brought out even after the fire had ceased. He could also bury the two that he had found earlier in the forest, a failed hunting venture. What was the point though? Did it matter where the bodies rotted?

He cringed at his own thoughts. When had he become so despondent, so pessimistic? It went against everything that had been his personality. It’s not like he didn’t know the cause of this metamorphosis. Losing people you hold close breaks you, losing all of them destroys you. He had been slowly devolving into this sour outlook on life for months.

Why had they been bombed? Why couldn’t life have stayed how it was? Had it been too good? Was that it? If life is too good for too long, must it be destroyed? All he had wanted was to graduate with his friends, keep playing volleyball until he was so tired he could barely stand, spend more time with the one he held the dearest. He had been robbed of it all.

As he sat alone, among the charred remains of the building he had called home, he let out a single cry of anguish. For nothing could repair that which had been lost to disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am just going to go ahead and say I am so so sorry for this and there is surely something wrong with me. The story will pick up in the next few chapters.


	2. The First Symphony

**5 months post bombing**

Daichi stopped and coughed as they finally reached the top of the hill. His coughing had been getting better since they left the city and retreated into the countryside, or what was left of it. The air had less smoke and fumes, but it wasn’t clean by any standards.

“Are you okay?” Sugawara walked up beside him, crouching down to rub gentle circles on his back. The motions soothed him and Daichi was able to raise his head from the arm he had been coughing into. He offered a small smile and a nod, hoping to comfort his companion. The worry didn’t disappear from Sugawara’s face, but it was lessened.

“I should be fine, may need to rest though.” Sugawara only nodded, sitting down properly beside Daichi and taking in the landscape.

The trees that should have been spattering the landscape with oranges and reds this time of year were all empty and black. Leaves that were left on the ground were an ugly russet color, making the forest floor seem like an expansive pool of blood in the setting sun. They could do nothing but look on sadly. There was no saving this forest now or any near time in the future, at least not in their lifetimes.

“Can you see anything from here?” Daichi asked. Sugawara only shook his head as he scanned the horizon. They had been hoping beyond all hope that maybe there would be something visible from such a high location. “Pity. We’ll have to walk further.”

“There were rumors of a small settlement out here. Maybe it’ll only be a little longer until we find them.” Daichi knew Sugawara was trying to be positive, like he had always been. But now that positivity always cloaked a shadow of doubt lying underneath the surface. It was understandable. Their only source of information were baseless rumors that were most likely not true. The amount of dead ends and incorrect leads they had followed far outweighed what had been correct.

“Hey, Suga?” The silver-haired boy turned his attention from the dead woods and Daichi kissed him gently on the forehead.

“What was that for?” Sugawara chuckled, a more than welcome sound these days.

“No reason. Probably because of sleep deprivation.” A lazy grin spread across his face as it was his turn to shift and scan the forest. He hadn’t missed the skeptical smile on his lover’s face before he had though. “We should get moving soon.”

“After such a short break? Are you sure you’re okay?” The worry was back and Daichi frowned knowing he was the source.

“I’ll be fine. Sitting here in the open isn’t the smartest thing to do anyway, we need to find proper shelter before it gets too dark. There weren’t many animals in the city, but who knows what could be prowling around here.”

“Nothing I bet.” The air grew thick with tension after the morose comment. No one liked to admit the truth, even when it was painfully obvious. The fires had either killed or driven most of the animals from their natural habitats. Everyone was a scavenger, man and animal alike. They were no different.

///

It had taken five days for them to find the abandoned settlement. Those five days had consisted of scavenging for what little food they could, sleeping in small caves or hollowed out wood, and only having the other as a source of warmth and comfort. They had stumbled upon the settlement by accident when Sugawara had slipped on some leaves and fallen through the remains of a dead thicket. In all honesty, they were both a bit shocked they hadn’t noticed it before then.

The small buildings, more shacks than anything, were constructed out of rotting wood-they even found termites in some of them. The pathways were loose gravel, with a central area boasting a large decaying stage in the center of the little town. A small stream ran through the west side of the area, something that had immediately drawn their attention as it had been days since they had a steady source of relatively fresh water. Out of everything they had seen, there was only one anomaly that had caught their attention.

One house, towards the southern part of the settlement, looked well-kept and new compared to any of the others. The wood wasn’t rotting away, in fact it looked like it had been recently replaced. When they went to check the door, they found it unlocked. Opening it cautiously, Daichi looked in to find an almost homey scene before him.

Wooden furniture was strewn about in seemingly random places. There was also a small pit for what looked like a fire, and a small kitchen-like area next to it. When he went to feel the pit, he found with shock that the ground was still warm.

“Suga, I don’t think this settlement is abandoned.” Sugawara only nodded as he wandered over to the boxes next to the pit, opening them and finding stored meat inside.

“Daichi, there’s food in here!” Not even considering that this likely belonged to the owner, Daichi quickly hopped up and walked towards Sugawara, his stomach speaking more than he was. “If we took one surely they wouldn’t mind right?”

“…Right.” Daichi reached into the box, pulling out a small chunk of meat. “But we shouldn’t take too much. We’d get sick from eating any more than this after going so long with so little.”

Sugawara was practically drooling as Daichi tore the meat in two, handing one half to Sugawara who bit into the food with absolutely no hesitation. Daichi quickly followed. It was raw and fatty, definitely not the freshest meat, but it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted in his life. The taste was so tempting, he almost grabbed another piece from the bin without thinking. They were both so distracted by the discovery of food that they had failed to notice someone laying on one of the wooden benches that had been facing away from them.

The stranger had awoken to the sudden noise, sitting up and noticing them immediately. He stared at them unnoticed with wild brown eyes, evaluating them. He moved slowly, reaching to grab a knife that had been lying across from him, making sure that the two strangers wouldn’t hear him. When they showed no signs of having noticed him, he stood and moved slowly closer. He knew where the floorboards creaked, stealthily avoiding them as he got closer…closer…

“Daichi, look out!” The warning came just in time for Daichi to turn his body, the attacker narrowly missing with the knife and instead stabbing the wooden plank next to him. Sugawara had jumped back when he noticed the attacker. Daichi had mimicked the action as a blur of orange lunged at him once again, eyes gleaming at him murderously. He wasn’t fast enough this time as the knife sliced through his shirt, cutting open his side and nearly making him lose his balance.

An object was thrown from the side, the attacker jumping back to avoid being hit as Daichi stared at the flashlight that was now lying broken on the ground. Sugawara ran over to him, trying to check his wound, but being pushed behind Daichi as the dark-haired boy stood protectively in front of him. They could finally face their attacker.

The boy was wearing tattered clothing, torn in places but holding up. The knife held in his hand was still pointed towards them, the tenseness of his muscles making it evident he was ready to move at a moment’s notice. He could hear a small gasp behind him as both he and Sugawara finally took in the stranger’s bright orange hair and focused brown eyes.

“H-Hinata?” The former middle blocker showed no signs of having heard them, still glaring at them as if they were the enemy. Maybe they were in his mind.

“Hinata, it’s us! Daichi and Suga? From Karasuno, we played volleyball together remember?” As Sugawara continued to ramble, Hinata still showed no signs of acknowledging them. “Surely you remember the team, don’t you? Noya and Tanaka? Asahi? Tsukishima and Yamaguchi? Kageya-”

Hinata lunged towards them, the knife outstretched ready to strike. Daichi pulled Sugawara with him as they fell to the ground, Hinata’s knife instead making contact with the wooden wall that had been behind them. He easily pulled the knife from where it had become lodged and glowered down at them.

“Hinata…?” Sugawara’s voice sounded small and terrified. This only made Daichi hold him closer to his chest.

“Rule number 1. Don’t speak the names of the dead.”

They both looked at him in confusion, but there was no time to think about what Hinata had said. Daichi needed to get them out of there somehow, but Hinata was in front of the door blocking their escape. He had no clue of the events that had transpired in the past five months, but this wasn’t the same Hinata they had played volleyball with. All that mattered now was getting to safety and reason didn’t seem like a plausible strategy.

Without warning, the younger boy lunged at them again. Daichi was barely able to roll them out of the way in time and stand them both up. Occupied with nearly having to drag Sugawara, he was unable to avoid the second slash to his back. He grit his teeth at the pain, tightening his grip on Sugawara and pulling him with him. Hinata moved after them and continued trying to slash at their arms and backs as they retreated. The door was no longer blocked with the shorter boy behind them and Daichi immediately ran for it, nearly jumping out of the house and falling into the gravel outside. Sugawara let out a small groan as he got a faceful of the small stones.

Daichi quickly stood up, ignoring the pain from his back and helping Sugawara off the ground. He turned towards the building, fully expecting Hinata to try to attack them again, but the orange-haired boy was simply standing in the doorway staring at them.

“Rule number 4. No stealing. If they attack you it’s because you did something wrong.” The words hung in the air as the boy continued to glare at them for a few seconds before closing the door.

The two of them stood in shock, staring at the door as if it would open and the real Hinata would bound out and greet them. That never happened. “Daichi…was that really Hinata? It couldn’t have been…right? There’s no way.”

He said nothing, instead turning to look over Sugawara and make sure he hadn’t been injured. There were a few small scrapes on his face and arms from when they had fallen, but otherwise he appeared unharmed. He couldn’t say the same for himself as his knees gave out from under him and he collapsed to the ground.

“Daichi!?” Sugawara was immediately at his side and for the first time could see the wound across his back. It wasn’t especially deep but it was long and the knife had left the skin open in a jagged line. Blood was still flowing in small streams as Daichi tried to reassure him that he was fine.

Sugawara wanted to treat the wound right then and there, was fully prepared to do it, when he remembered that they were still only meters from the doorway of the one who had caused it. If Hinata, if that even was Hinata, changed his mind and decided to chase them after all they would not be able to run in time. Sugawara groaned inwardly at the predicament and helped the other boy stand, supporting him carefully as to not touch the wound on his back or side.

They were forced to retreat, heads hanging low as they made their way to another one of the houses that they had passed earlier in the day. Sugawara flinched at the poor state of the building as he pushed open the door. The air was stale and he could instantly smell the amount of decay. This was not the ideal location to patch up Daichi, but he knew none of the other buildings would be any different. He set Daichi down gently while beginning to remove his shirt so he could tend to the wounds.

Seeing the wound more clearly he was able to release a sigh of relief. His first estimate hadn’t been far off in that it wasn’t especially deep. Now he could see that it ran from Daichi’s right shoulder to just above his waist on the left. A messy, but straight gash. The cut on his side didn’t look that deep either, but it was bleeding steadily. Sugawara reached over for his small bag, pulling out some spare cloth they had gathered from a small building weeks ago. It wasn’t bandages but it would have to do.

As he began tending to the wounds, Daichi would flinch from time to time at the pain. Meanwhile, the darker-haired boy was trying to think through all that had happened in what had probably been only minutes. Even though Sugawara had been reluctant to admit the truth, there was no doubt that boy had been Hinata. His hair had been longer, eyes more dead than alive, and voice lacking all of its brightness but that was still Hinata. And he had tried to kill them.

“So…”

“Daichi, be quiet. It makes it harder to wrap the wounds when you talk.” Daichi laughed, causing Sugawara to frown in frustration as a good portion of his wrapping came undone. He lightly hit his boyfriend on the head in an attempt to chastise him as he went back to what he had been doing. After a few more minutes he couldn’t help but feel proud at his wrapping work what with the lack of materials. Then he remembered that was something he shouldn’t be proud of.

“Are you done?” Sugawara nodded and Daichi turned to face him. He gave himself a once-over to inspect the wrapping then smiled. “You’re much too good at this.”

“It’s not a skill I had desired to begin with.” They both sat in uncomfortable silence after the comment.  The tension in the room only began to grow suffocating as they both knew the topic neither wanted to bring up so quickly had to be.

“You know that was Hinata, don’t you?” Sugawara looked at Daichi sadly but nodded his agreement all the same.

“I can’t believe it but…there really is no denying it. I can only imagine what happened to make him that feral. It was like he didn’t even recognize us.”

Empty brown eyes immediately came to Daichi’s mind, but that description felt off. He felt that the word ‘empty’ didn’t quite fit what they had seen. Hinata had stared straight at them, it was likely he had recognized them too, but then why did he attack them? There were too many questions that he didn’t know the answers for that would make all the puzzle pieces fit nicely together.

“Going back there wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do. He’d likely attack us again if we tried to talk to him.”

“I don’t know about that.” Sugawara stood up from his spot to look out the window, careful not to touch the frame. “It’s odd, don’t you think? Hinata wouldn’t walk out past the doorway, still hasn’t, but he wouldn’t be able to survive if he didn’t leave it. The amount of food was more than necessary for only one person too. Plus in all honesty, Hinata’s strong but I don’t peg him for a carpenter.”

Daichi stood up and joined Sugawara at the window. They could see the house Hinata had been in from here and indeed the door had remained closed. “What are you suggesting?”

“I don’t think he’s staying here alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To avoid confusion, this is the PRESENT timeline in the story. It will be jumping around a bit, but the ones in this little settlement are the PRESENT.   
> Also sorry if people got spammed because I had to keep 'updating' this to fix a stupid little bug.


	3. Requiem of the Fallen

**1 week post bombing**

Three figures huddled together around the pitiful fire they had managed to scrounge up enough trash to create. The tallest of the three sat in the middle, unable to move from his spot since the other two had fallen asleep curled up against him. He didn’t mind it though. Sleep was the only time their faces weren’t mangled with worry or fear unworthy of the duo of sunlight.

Kageyama was not the sun, but he would give anything for the two resting against him to be able to smile merrily as they had so frequently done before the bombs. A shudder ran through his body as he could still hear the bombs ringing in his ears.

They had been lucky. So, so lucky. The bombs hadn’t been the first thing to hit Miyagi, no, first had come the devastating earthquake. It had nearly leveled every building to the ground, including the school building they had been eating lunch in at the time. He hated to admit it, but that was likely the only reason they hadn’t been separated in the chaos. Something as stupid and simple as eating lunch together had kept them by each other’s side.

He turned to his right where Hinata was sleeping peacefully, slightly drooling, against his side. If his hand had been free he would have reached over to ruffle the fluffy orange hair he was so familiar with. Would he have made it through everything that had happened if Hinata were not at his side? He didn’t like to think about it, to think about what was to come in their near future.

A small mumble came from his left, causing him to turn again to face the little girl who had slid down to rest her head on his knee. Kageyama couldn’t stop the small smile from gracing his features as Natsu only curled up more. She hadn’t been with them when everything went to hell. The two boys had instantly gone to look for their families, and with Kageyama’s family having been away they had trekked over the mountain to Hinata’s home. His home had been untouched, but only Natsu had been inside having run straight there from her grade school. They never had found his parents.

“Kageyama?” Hinata stirred from his sleep and looked at Kageyama with groggy eyes. “Why are you shaking?”

“It’s nothing. Sorry, you can go back to sleep.” Kageyama tried to force his normal neutral expression knowing a smile wouldn’t work, but he should’ve known better than to try to fool Hinata of all people. Yet the smaller boy only sighed and laid down on the ground beside them.

“You should sleep too. You can move Natsu, she won’t wake up.” Kageyama turned back to Natsu, unwilling to move her when she looked so comfortable but knowing he probably should get some rest at some point that night. Gently, he lifted the small girl and set her in between Hinata and himself. She cuddled up to her brother instantly as Kageyama laid down across from them.

It was silent following that, Kageyama slowly drifting off after assuming Hinata had done the same before he was proven wrong. “Do you think we should look for the other guys starting tomorrow?”

Kageyama opened his eyes again, staring at Hinata with as much confusion as he could muster in his half-asleep state. “The guys? You mean our teammates?”

“Yeah. We didn’t even run into them on…that day…but surely they’re not dead, well not all of them.”

“Morbid.”

“Shut up, Bakageyama. You know what I mean. Although, with my usual luck we’d probably find Tsukishima.” The two chuckled silently to each other. “Can you imagine the look on his face if we were the first ones he ran into?”

“Ignoring your bad luck concerning running into others, I’d rather run into someone like Suga or Yachi. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’d even be glad to see Tanaka and Noya and have them shout my ear off.”

“You’re being unusually kind right now, too fond. This isn’t a dream right? I actually woke up didn’t I?”

“Dumbass.”

“There’s my Kageyama!”

The two fell into silence once more, simply staring at each other. Hinata looked down at Natsu again and his smile grew. “We’re going to get out of this…aren’t we?”

Kageyama couldn’t control the flood of negative thoughts and outcomes that immediately rushed to his mind. Their chances weren’t good, they were both aware of this. Despite this, despite everything they had gone through and were likely going to endure in the future, he reached over and took Hinata’s hand in his own. They both felt cold.

“I promise you. No matter what happens, I will get you out of this mess. Don’t you dare be going and giving up on me yet. You will be happy again, I guarantee it.”

///

Hinata walked behind Kageyama as they foraged through the ruins. Natsu had stayed behind at their little camp for her safety. As if on cue, the rubble to his right fell with a loud crash, further reinforcing why this environment was dangerous for a girl Natsu’s age. It wasn’t safe for them either, but someone had to search for food. Hinata began to wander in one direction, but was stopped as Kageyama grabbed the back of his shirt.

“We shouldn’t head that way. Rumor has it a large sinkhole opened up a few days ago in that area.” Hinata simply nodded in agreement, turning to walk in the opposite direction. He caught sight of a small building, which had probably been a shop before it crumbled, and headed over towards it.

“Maybe this building will have something…” Hinata was trying to be positive, but even he could hear the doubt in his own voice. He tried to ignore the sad look Kageyama was giving him, that was how Kageyama looked at him half the time now. He hated it, but it was undeniable his pessimistic change in attitude was what was causing the expression to appear in the first place. It was hard to be optimistic though.

He felt his hand hit something metallic in the debris. At first, Hinata suspected it was likely another beam or girder like usual. It became increasingly hard to contain his sudden excitement as he was finally able to pull out what it was. “Kageyama! Kageyama look what I found!”

The other boy rushed over to see Hinata triumphantly lifting up two aluminum cans in the air. Kageyama walked closer, allowing Hinata to cheerfully show off the many cans of food he had found buried under the rubble. “There’s so many…”

“I know! We’ll be fine for weeks with these!” Hinata hopped up, hugging a surprised Kageyama as he could no longer contain his glee. “I can’t believe it! Days of scraps and we hit the jackpot! This is amazing, it’s all like gwah you know!?”

“I get it, I get it. You’re crushing me, dumbass.” Kageyama tried to extract himself from the smaller boy’s iron grip, but was soon released in the middle of his struggle. Hinata bounced back to his cans and began to pick them up one by one, not paying attention to Kageyama as the taller boy walked closer. “Hinata.”

“Hmm? What is it Kagey-” Soft lips met his own as he had turned to look at the other boy. All thoughts came to a halt and he dropped the cans he had been holding. As Kageyama pulled away, he looked abashedly to the side.

“Y-You did well.”

“How am I still an employee to you after all this?” Kageyama grabbed his head, his grip tightening as his expression turned from embarrassed to deadly. “Wait, I was joking, please, no, gah don’t kill me here!”

///

“Natsu! You’ll never believe what we found today!” Kageyama and Hinata walked into their makeshift shelter, in reality an abandoned, debilitated building, and set down the cans of food they had managed to carry back. They were met with silence as Hinata continued calling out for his sister. Walking over to where her blanket was lying over a lumpy figure, Hinata assumed that perhaps she was taking a nap or something.

“Wake up, sleepyhead! You have got to see what we…” Hinata pulled back the thin blanket to find nothing but rubble underneath. Natsu wasn’t there. “Natsu?”

“Is something wrong?” Kageyama spoke up from behind him, having finished storing the last of the cans they had brought back. He watched in confusion as Hinata was suddenly running everywhere possible in their tiny abode, lifting up pieces of broken furniture and anything that was lying around.

“I can’t find Natsu!” Panic rippled from one boy to the other as Kageyama was suddenly well aware of the urgency of the situation. “Where could she be? You don’t think-?”

“She’s fine. Probably just wandered off to look for us or something.” He tried to calm down Hinata, but the boy was suffering in a mix of panic and terror. He ran outside, screaming his sister’s name as he ran around the surrounding area. There was no response.

“Natsu! Please Natsu, answer me!” When there was still no response, Kageyama rushed over as Hinata’s knees gave out under him. His hands knotted into his hair and tears were forming in his eyes. “I’m a terrible brother. I can’t believe I left her alone. What if she was kidnapped? What if she’s hurt somewhere? What if-?”

“Hinata, snap out of it!” Kageyama slapped both of his hands against Hinata’s face, getting the boy to focus on him. “We need to stay calm if we’re going to find her, okay? Panicking won’t get us anywhere. Now I know we’re both stupid, but we need to think. Where would she have gone?”

“Have gone…?”

“Chances are she was probably following us. I don’t know why, she was probably bored for all I know. If she had followed us exactly we would have seen her on the way back.”

“But we didn’t…?”

“Exactly. She probably took a turn by mistake somewhere. Most of those turns lead to dead ends though, we’ve only found a handful that led anywhere. She’s probably in one of those areas.” Kageyama’s hands slipped down to rest on Hinata’s shoulders. “We’re going to find her.”

Hinata stared at him and Kageyama was wondering if he should say something more when Hinata’s expression became one of determination. “Of course we will!”

Kageyama grinned as Hinata turned back towards the path they had walked back and forth on for the past few days. No more words were spoken as the two ran back in that direction, breaking apart only when they passed one of the paths they needed to investigate. Alternating, they continued this pattern and talked to anyone they happened to run into.

The two boys searched desperately, even straying into areas of debris and rubble that someone Natsu’s size may have been able to fit into. Cries of “Natsu! Natsu!” echoed throughout the area, never being answered with any response. The girl had seemingly vanished. The sun began to disappear behind the horizon and the clouds that had been looming all day were slowly increasing. As it began to drizzle, they regrouped at the familiar rubble they had found the canned food at. Distress was growing quickly as both saw the other but no little redhead.

“No luck?”

“Kageyama, where could she be!? We never should’ve left her alone!” Kageyama had nothing to say. He had said everything he could earlier, trying to keep Hinata positive enough that he wouldn’t crash, but they had been searching for hours and hadn’t found Natsu. They had looked everywhere! Every branching path that she could’ve followed led to nothing. There was nowhere else she could have wandered-

“There’s one more place.” Hinata stared at him with wide, desperate eyes.

“Where!? Why haven’t we gone there already!?”

Kageyama didn’t answer him and ran to the path he had instructed Hinata not to go down just earlier that day. He felt like he was going to vomit, thinking of what may have happened to Natsu if she had gone this way. That sink hole. He hadn’t seen it, but he had heard of its wide spread and endless cavity. He could still hear Hinata yelling behind him, but they both grew silent as they finally arrived at their destination. It was worse than he could’ve imagined.

The sink hole was unnaturally large, there shouldn’t be a hole that large in a small town like this. It spread at least two blocks worth, gaping like a portal to hell itself. They approached cautiously, feeling how loose the ground was surrounding it. There was no end.

There was a noticeable head of orange hair laying on the inner edge though.

“Natsu!” Hinata nearly jumped down, Kageyama quickly holding him back.

“Idiot! What the hell are you going to accomplish by jumping in!?” Natsu was lying on a very narrow edge that by all means looked like it shouldn’t be able to hold her weight. She was unconscious, maybe having hit her head on something when she fell in or having passed out from exhaustion trying to get out.

“But she’s down there Kageyama! We have to get her out!” Kageyama felt sick at the very thought. Yes, he knew they had to get her out but how? There was nothing to throw down to her even if she was conscious. Hinata was still struggling in his hold, and Kageyama knew the boy would jump in to get his sister without a second thought.

Someone was going to have to go down there. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let Hinata do it.

“Hinata, do you still have that wire we found on the way back?”

“What are you talking about!? Why is that important!?”

“Do you have it!?”

“Yeah I do! What do you want barbed wire for!?” Kageyama kept one hand on the back of Hinata’s shirt and reached the other into the small bag on his waist. He flinched as he felt the barbed wire and took it out. Then with as much force as he could, he pulled Hinata back. The other boy fell on the ground behind him and sat up angrily. “What the hell was that fo-”

Kageyama dropped down and slid his feet into the sinkhole, looking for any places that would support his feet. Once he found a good spot, he strapped the barbed wire to his own bag and slide further in. He could hear the older redhead scramble back towards the edge where Kageyama had managed to slide down a few more feet.

“What are you doing!?”

“What does it look like I’m doing, dumbass!? I’m getting your sister!” The ground under his right hand gave out and he found himself sliding a few more feet, barely keeping a hold on the slippery wall. The rain was echoing in his ears as it made the walls of the sinkhole harder to grasp as it fell harder than before.

“Kageyama!”

“I’m fine.” He looked to his side, noting that Natsu was only about four meters below him now. Slowly and with painful care, he made his way down the rest of the rock face until he was at her side. Now came the hard part.

He found a good hold for his feet and left hand, then released the wall with his right. He grabbed the barbed wire on his side, ignoring the pain that shot through his palm. Reaching for Natsu, he heard more of the wall crumble above him and hesitated for a second. Reassuring himself that he was secure, he began meticulously wrapping the wire as well as he could manage around her waist and torso. It was probably going to hurt her, but it would get her out. They could treat her when they got back.

“Hinata, catch!” The redhead was caught off guard as Kageyama tossed up the other end of the wire to him. He barely caught it, grimacing as the barbed went into his hand. “Pull her up!”

Hinata instantly complied, going as quickly as he could with the barbs continuing to dig into his hands with every pull. Kageyama could only watch from where he was resting precariously against the stone. His wrapping job held up as the final pull had Natsu vanish from his line of sight. He smiled as Hinata peeked his head over the edge. “She’s fine! Come back up, Bakageyama.”

“Don’t rush me!” Kageyama’s smile turned to a cocky grin. Once he got to the top he knew that Hinata would hit him, then likely hug him and kiss him, telling him never to do something that stupid and risky again. That’s how he always was.

He reached up with his right hand, ignoring the pain from where the barbs had dug into his skin and trying to find a good hold. The ground gave way beneath his hand. He held the wall tightly with his other hand and managed to hold on. His grin was gone as he realized his situation.

The rain had made the stone too slippery to climb.

He wasn’t going to get out of here.

_I can’t keep my promise._

_I’m going to be the one who shatters my promise._

“Kageyama? What’s taking you?” Hinata’s voice sounded from above him, almost drowned out by the rain falling from the sky. Kageyama was bitterly thanking the rain for hiding his tears from Hinata. He mouthed a silent ‘damn it’ to himself. “Kageyama?”

Was this where his luck finally ran out? “I…I can’t.”

“What are you talking about? Just climb on out!” Hinata was shouting at him to climb, to at least try. His screaming muscles from the strain of having slid down and the water beginning to trickle under his hands were shouting something completely different.

“The stone’s too wet! I’ll fall!” Kageyama felt his entire world crumble as he caught the expression on Hinata’s face. It was a horrid twist of anger and desperation that this horrible situation had the audacity to put on the boy’s face.

“Please stop saying things like that. You have to try right? Here, take my hand.” He could see Hinata reaching out for him and a small amount of hope bubbled up from nowhere. Maybe he would get out. He just had to reach up for-

Kageyama cursed everything as that was the moment whatever God there was decided to let the stones under his foot give way.

The only thing Kageyama heard was Hinata screaming his name as he plummeted to the bottom.

_I’m sorry._

///

Why? Why was the world so cruel to them? He should’ve known. They had been far too lucky. Staying together? Finding Natsu? Being able to feed themselves without worry and having shelter? Hinata had never been a lucky person. Something had to be given up for him to have such nice things when so few people did. Why did that thing have to be Kageyama? Why did their last words have to be them yelling at each other?

Hinata walked into the shelter with Natsu in his arms. He set her down gently on her blanket and sat down next to her. Water was dripping onto his face from the downpour outside, but he couldn’t bring himself to wipe it away. How much of the liquid was from the rain anyway? How much of it was tears? He didn’t know and he didn’t care.

Natsu groaned as she shifted and he immediately remembered the cuts around her waist. “Should…treat them…”

He continued to mumble to himself as he walked over to where they stored the random assortment of medical supplies they had collected. Returning with some bandages, he began to gently wrap them around her waist.

“Nii-san?” Hinata turned as Natsu peeked open her eyes. She looked…unusually weak. He offered up his biggest smile, as he reached to ruffle her damp hair.

“You’re okay now. You should rest though.” She looked around with tired eyes and then turned back to her brother.

“Where’s Kage-nii?” Hinata had to remind himself not to drop his smile.

“He’s keeping lookout upstairs.” He can tell her the truth when she’s more awake. “Now you really should rest.”

She was silent for a second, looking like she might comply before tears started forming in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Nii-san…I-I shouldn’t have wandered after you. I j-just wanted to h-help.”

Hinata wiped the tears starting to stream down her face. No more sadness today. Not for something as trivial as that. “It’s okay. You’re safe, that’s all that matters. We both think so. Now please sleep, we’ll talk about all this in the morning when you’re better.”

She nodded and Hinata moved to lay in front of her. Natsu moved closer and grabbed onto his shirt, resting her head against his chest. “Nii-san…I’m really…I’m really tired.”

“I’ve been telling you, just sleep. Kageyama…Kageyama will be down soon to join us okay.” He held her closer as she coughed slightly. Hinata hoped to himself that she hadn’t caught a cold from the rain as she coughed again, this time a bit harsher.

Rubbing her back soothingly, both siblings fell asleep to the sound of the rain outside.

///

The sun was shining when morning came around. Hinata was woken up by the sunlight streaming in directly on his face, waking him up with its blinding light. He wanted to smile like he would have normally at the brightness, but he wasn’t even graced with a moment of wakefulness before recalling everything that had happened the day before.

Kageyama was dead. He felt sick just thinking about it.

As he shifted, something damp rubbed against his skin from the front of his shirt. Natsu was still resting against his chest, and he chuckled to himself thinking of how his sister must have drooled on him. He mentally slapped himself as he realized he couldn’t keep acting depressed. Losing Kageyama would be hard for sure, he had loved the other boy that was no lie, but he wasn’t alone. Hinata had to at least act joyful for Natsu. He would have to tell her the truth of what had happened.

“Natsu. Wake up, silly.” Hinata gently shook her arm. It felt frigid under his palm. “Natsu, come on…”

A gasp left his lips as he turned her over enough to see red staining her face. With a sickening realization sinking into his gut, he looked down at his shirt. It was stained with various shades of red and brown.

Screams echoed through the shelter as he tried to shake his sister awake, tried to get her to open her eyes and say something to him. Anything. His voice was cracking as he begged and begged her to look at him. To please not leave him. He couldn’t lose her too. Not this fast. Not this soon.

His arms fell to his side, Natsu’s limp form now laying silently on her worn blanket. He stood and ran outside the shelter, and just kept running. He ran until his limbs were ragged and worn, and then he found himself at the spot that would surely haunt his nightmares until he died.

The sinkhole was spread in front of him. Its endlessness seemed to mock him, teasing that it had taken everything he loved away from him. None of this was fair. If this was some cost for his luck it didn’t make sense. How was this equal in any way?

He hadn’t even noticed how close he had gotten to the sinkhole until he was looking over the edge. The events from the previous day replayed before his eyes, yet he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Natsu was down on the stoop just below him, Kageyama was clinging to the edge of the stone wall. He blinked and he saw his best friend falling to his death. He blinked once more and saw Natsu lying beside him with blood covering her face.

“I should join them…right? It’s not fair to keep them waiting for me.” A small, quiet laugh echoed in the silence. Hinata hadn’t even realized he had made the sound. “They’re waiting, aren’t they?”

A step was all it would take to join them. He stood there looking as far as he could into the sinkhole. Kageyama was down there. Natsu was probably with him. His body felt stiff, the nagging fear of death telling him they wouldn’t want this. Why would they want him to throw away his life? But what was left in his life anyway?

Without any further thought, he took a step into the abyss.

Hinata was halted in his forward motion by a strong grip on his shoulder. He fell backwards into the force and heard a small ‘oomph’ as he landed on someone. Said stranger pushed them both up, Hinata finally able to turn and see the person who had stopped him.

“I’ve seen enough people kill themselves, hell if I’m letting you do it too.”

“…G-Grand king?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my good 'ol beta reader didn't get the employee reference. I was disappointed. (It's from when Kageyama was trying to be nice and all like Suga.)  
> This got looooong, at least for me, also this is how the work will alternate throughout. Present, Past, Present, Past, etc.  
> Anyhoo thank you all for reading :'D


	4. The Second Symphony

**5 months post bombing**

Restless sleep was the only type that came to Sugawara these days. When his eyes were closed, all he saw were the figures of the dead that plagued his mind. When his eyes were open…things weren’t much better but at least there weren’t any corpses.

It had been three days since he and Daichi had had their run-in with Hinata. Daichi’s wounds had been healing well with no signs of infection. They were fortunate as that would have made their situation dire. During the recuperation, it had been left to Sugawara to find them food and water. The water had been easy, but food had been scarce.

Sugawara had also taken notice that Hinata had not left the house they had found him in since their encounter. If he did, it had to be at an obscene hour when neither he nor Daichi were awake or on lookout. He was worried for his old teammate, but their own situation could not be ignored.

He stood from the broken chair he reluctantly called a bed and walked silently over to the window. His eyes automatically travelled along the gravel paths and the house where Hinata stayed looking for any signs of a disturbance. There were none.

It was highly likely that Hinata was not staying alone, especially considering he never left his stronghold. Sugawara was on high alert due to this, fearful that his companions may be as violent and merciless as he had been. An accomplice’s arrival would spell trouble for the two of them, but they couldn’t leave the abandoned settlement until Daichi’s wounds were better.

Sugawara turned back to where Daichi was laying on the remains of an old couch. He walked over slowly, careful not to wake his boyfriend. When he was in front of him, he crouched down to get a better look at his wounds. They were healing nicely and Daichi would probably be able to move around as easily as before within a few days’ time. Sugawara glanced up to the relaxed expression of the boy in front of him. He smiled and leaned over, pressing a gentle kiss on the other’s forehead before standing again and heading outside.

Until Daichi was able to stand on his own with no problems, it was up to Sugawara to gather materials from the woods. They had to eat something and he was the only one capable of finding anything at the moment. Daichi would be mad that he wandered out alone again, but what Daichi didn’t know wouldn’t kill him. Sugawara was aiming to gather more of the somewhat decent berries he had found the day before and walked in that direction.

Foraging was the word he liked to use for what he was doing to find food, but in the back of his mind he knew the correct word was scavenging. Foraging implied finding something fresh like berries, the reality of the matter was he would take anything he found-dead or dying.

His somber thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, strong gust of wind. The rustling of the leaves on the ground was deafening and Sugawara had to lift his arm to protect his face from the leaves flying around him. When it calmed down once more, he glanced cautiously in front of him and sighed as he wiped some stray leaves out of his hair.

He jumped as a sudden loud rustling came from somewhere behind him. As he turned and looked, he saw nothing. An animal perhaps? Odd and likely rare, but it wasn’t like he had anything to hunt it with anyway. Sugawara slapped his hands against his cheeks, scolding himself for being so jumpy. The only people out here were Daichi, himself, and Hinata.

He had a sinking feeling when his suspicions of an accomplice began to run rampant through his mind, but he shook his head. That was only a guess at best, and food was more important than worrying over something as trivial as a guess.

Sugawara sighed once more and continued walking to his destination. As he walked out of sight, another person was cursing himself for moving at a stupid time. He stared after where the other man had walked off and began to creep forward once more.

This had to be done silently.

///

Daichi woke up cold and alone. He would have felt panic over his missing lover if Sugawara hadn’t ‘mysteriously’ disappeared the past few mornings and then returned just as randomly. Sugawara always denied that he had gone out to get food in the woods, but Daichi knew better. On the other hand, he also trusted him not to do something stupid and simply found it amusing how Sugawara felt it necessary to hide it from him despite this.

He sat up and regretted the quick motion when his wounds screamed at him. Daichi rested against the back of the couch and lifted his shirt to inspect the wrappings. They would need to be changed soon, but it looked like they hadn’t bled overnight again. A good sign, the wounds were healing.

They would be able to leave soon at this rate. That should have made him happy; he and Sugawara would be able to continue their search for a suitable place to settle. This settlement was almost that place, but there wasn’t a good food source. There was also the resident in the other house who made them feel less than welcome. The same person that was causing dissonance due to their once close connection.

Abandoning Hinata in this isolated settlement was the last thing Daichi wanted to do as his former captain and friend. He knew Sugawara felt the same, an almost motherly instinct he had always had causing him distress at leaving Hinata behind.

The last thing they wanted to do was leave behind another friend.

A loud sound came from outside and interrupted Daichi’s thoughts. It sounded like something wooden had been thrown against another surface, like a door slamming open or shut. He stood up from the couch and moved over to the window just in time to see a familiar rush of orange run away from the house he hadn’t left in the entire time they had been there. Hinata was running somewhere away from the settlement, in a direction blocked by other houses and out of Daichi’s sight.

Daichi moved without thinking. He pulled open their own door and walked as quickly as his injuries would allow in the direction Hinata had disappeared. He didn’t know why he was suddenly following Hinata when the smaller boy could be running into a lion’s den for all he knew. Daichi had a vague idea though. Hinata hadn’t left his house in days, so why now and why was he running so quickly?

Daichi was unable to run to keep up, but he could tell from the disturbances in the gravel where Hinata had run to. It was only now that he considered where Sugawara was. Had Hinata finally decided to attack them again while they were separated? Or was something going on that only Hinata knew of since he was more familiar with the area?

When he finally caught up he was completely stunned by what he saw.

Hinata was there, smiling like he used to and chattering away in an excited manner. The light was back in his eyes and Daichi felt a pang in his chest that he and Sugawara had not received this reaction in the slightest. There was someone, all too familiar to Daichi, standing in front of Hinata and conversing happily along with the ginger. Daichi tried to take a silent step back, but the leaves under his feet weren’t on his side.

Both boys turned to see him as he wracked his mind to figure out what he should do in this situation. Hinata’s expression reverted back to the hollow, blank glare that he had first given Daichi when they had their encounter. However, the other boy simply looked confused before a hint of recognition seemed to show in his eyes.

“You’re…Sawamura? Right?” Daichi nodded, still keeping an eye on Hinata who was equally watching him. The other boy seemed to notice this and he hit the top of Hinata’s head. Hinata’s personality swiftly switched once more and he looked hurt, possibly about to argue with the taller boy but shrinking as he met the other’s eyes. “Hinata, we’re supposed to be nice to guests. He’s even your old teammate.”

“But Iwaizumi…” Hinata seemed to shrink even more as Iwaizumi continued to glare at him. “He broke rule number 4…”

Rule number 4. That sounded familiar to Daichi, but it took him a second to remember that that had been one of the odd things Hinata had said to him during his attack. It had something to do with stealing, didn’t it?

“That was an accident!” Iwaizumi turned to Daichi, waiting for him to continue. “He’s talking about the two of us taking some of the food in that house. We swear we didn’t know it was occupied. We were just so hungry…” He waited for any reaction, any move to attack him for taking their food and breaking in. But Iwaizumi just laughed.

“I can understand hunger, it’s hard to find food these days. Although…you said we. Where is the person you’re here with?”

“Suga? I’m not sure, but probably into the woods to forage?” Daichi was confused by the sudden look of concern on Iwaizumi’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“…He probably won’t kill him if he sees it’s a person.”

“Is he still hunting?” Hinata spoke up from beside Iwaizumi, but was looking into the woods surrounding them. Daichi was confused and wasn’t following their conversation.

“He said he felt something was off and went into the woods to ‘investigate’. His words, I didn’t see any reason not to let him. Although now, this may be bad.”

“I’m sorry, but is there something I’m missing here?” Iwaizumi looked straight at him, with an eerily blank expression that he had only associated with Hinata.

“Mad Dog is off chasing your friend. I can’t guarantee his safety.”

“Mad…Dog…?” Daichi immediately remembered who that title belonged to. The black sheep that had been brought in to play for Aoba Jousai in the spring tournament. The boy who had certainly earned that title due to his mentality on the court. That same boy was out chasing Sugawara. “No…”

Daichi turned towards the woods and started running, or tried to. He hadn’t taken more than three steps when his wounds started flaring up and he collapsed. Iwaizumi was at his side in an instant, while Hinata kept his distance.

“Are you okay?” Iwaizumi helped him back to a sitting position, but Daichi was desperately trying to stand back up. His injuries weren’t having any of it.

“I have to-I have to get to Suga! He’s in danger, isn’t he!?” Iwaizumi was silent, but kept his hands on Daichi’s shoulders so he couldn’t get to his feet. His shirt had ridden up as he struggled to get out of the hold and Iwaizumi took notice of the wrappings.

“You’re not going to be able to do anything in your condition. Don’t be stupid.”

“I have to try! I can’t just leave him out there!”

“What would you be able to do if you were to find him?” Iwaizumi was staring at him hard and it sent chills up Daichi’s spine. It was a valid question, but it felt heavier than it should. As if his answer could ensure his own life or death.

“I…I would help any way I could.”

“And if there is no way for you to help him?”

“If I really couldn’t do anything…I would throw my life away for him! So let me go find-” A hand slapped him across the face and anything else he was going to say was struck away with it. Daichi stared wide-eyed at Iwaizumi, who was absolutely fuming.

“WHAT WOULD YOUR DEATH DO FOR HIM!?”

“Iwaizumi?”

A new voice chimed in from the woods behind them. Mad Dog, Kyoutani, was standing in front of them, looking to Iwaizumi to explain what was going on. There was blood spatter on his face and dark brownish stains on his shirt. Daichi felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as Iwaizumi simply sighed.

“Kyoutani, you really should clean up. You’ll scare people.” Kyoutani only nodded silently and walked over to where Hinata was standing. Daichi’s eyes followed his bloodstained form the entire time.

“Daichi!” He whipped his head around so quickly he could feel the whiplash. Sugawara was walking out of the woods where Kyoutani had come out of. He was at Daichi’s side instantly and was worriedly checking his wounds. “What are you doing walking around!? You should be resting, what if your wounds opened back up!?”

Daichi just continued to stare dumbly as Sugawara finally turned his attention away from the wounds. “Daichi?”

He reached forward quickly and Sugawara was caught off guard as Daichi wrapped his arms around him. “Please don’t ever go off like that again. I was so worried that something had happened. If anything had happened to you...I-I don’t know what I would have done.”

Sugawara blinked owlishly at the sudden words but then smiled gently. He rubbed gentle circles on Daichi’s back, trying to soothe his lover as Daichi continued to ramble on and on about how worried he had been. “Daichi. Daichi, I’m fine! Nothing happened.”

“Then why is he-he didn’t hurt you did he?”

“What, Kyoutani? No! No! He surprised me too when he came up to me like that, but he didn’t do anything to me!”

“See, this is why I told you to clean up before you went into the woods.” They looked over to the three boys they had forgotten were there watching them. “You two, go grab the haul and go clean up.”

Hinata eagerly saluted before running off, Kyoutani mumbling something like ‘it’s not that bad’ as he followed behind the energetic ginger. Iwaizumi huffed, and walked over to where Daichi and Sugawara were still on the ground. He offered a hand to Daichi, who took it a bit warily and was helped up off the ground. He leaned against Sugawara as the pain of his wounds was still making it a bit difficult to stand on his own.

“Sorry about…yelling at you. Also for scaring you. Kyoutani would have only attacked your friend if he had done anything dangerous. Luckily, doesn’t look like he did. Now, was Hinata the one who did that to you?”

Daichi chuckled. “Yeah. He caught us off guard. But well, looks like you run a tight ship with those two. They probably need it with all that’s happened.”

“I suppose. Kyoutani already looked up to me before everything, but then we ended up finding Hinata too. I’m just happy that boy can smile again.”

“…If it’s not too much to ask,” Sugawara bit his lip, unsure of how to ask his question. “Hinata…he won’t even look at us, like he doesn’t even recognize us. He even attacked Daichi. Do you know what happened?”

Iwaizumi was silent as he debated whether it was safe to tell the pair the dark stories that Hinata kept hidden. Were these two trustworthy? He glanced back in the direction that Kyoutani and Hinata had run off to, then turned back to Daichi and Sugawara. “If you look at him with even a shred of pity I will run you two out of here so quickly you won’t know what happened.”

The two of them nodded, both realizing this was just as serious as they had thought it was. “We found Hinata back in Miyagi months ago. He was quiet for a long time after that, and it was only after…it was a long time before he would actually speak to me. When he did, he finally told me that Kageyama was dead.”

“K-Kageyama?” Daichi’s source of support nearly gave out as Sugawara was suddenly the one that needed to be held up.

“Yeah. I…I was devastated too. He used to be my teammate after all. But Hinata…he continued to hole himself up. He only talks to a select few that he feels can understand his pain. Kyoutani found us about a month ago, and he’s actually been a great support system for Hinata. But as you saw, he still doesn’t trust most people.”

Daichi let the information sink in. Kageyama was dead. That was definitely shocking and explained a lot about Hinata’s current personality. There were many holes in the story concerning what had happened in the months since they found him, then Kyoutani joined them. …Wait.

“Iwaizumi? You said ‘we’ found Hinata, but then you said Kyoutani only joined you a month ago. Is there someone else here?” Sugawara had caught the same discrepancy that Daichi had. Iwaizumi went silent and looked anywhere but at them.

“It’s not important.” Iwaizumi had a grin on his face that even a child could have told was painfully forced. “You two should go take care of those bandages, I’m going to go help those two bring up the haul.”

Iwaizumi walked briskly in the opposite direction, not providing any openings for more questions. He kept his head down as he walked away, trying to ignore the tirade of emotions that were rushing through him because of his clumsy mistake.

“It’s not important…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, just finished up finals and job interviews so should be good if I'm not too busy. Thank you all so much for reading this and I'll be trying to make a better update schedule in the future. More death to come, and more suffering for my lovely beta.


	5. Requiem of the Blight

**1 month post bombing**

_Attention! Attention please, all residents! An immediate evacuation has been ordered! A large sink hole has opened and is spewing toxic fumes! Again, this is an emergency! Everyone is ordered to evacuate! Crews are inspecting the area for survivors! Please make your way away from the area surrounding the sink hole! There will be crews marking a safe distance! Again please evacuate the area!_

The megaphone crew drove by like this once every few hours with their message. Daichi watched the truck disappear out of sight, taking its message along with it. Behind him, Sugawara and Asahi were talking as if the truck’s message had been completely ignored. Considering it had been circling around the area for a full week, it probably was.

A large sink hole had opened up after the earthquakes hit Miyagi. Rumors were the bombs that had come hours later only made the hole larger and more unstable. It had been another week or two before people made the connection between the sudden outbreak of illness and the sink hole. Anyone who had been within a mile of the sight for an extended period of time was afflicted.

Strangely, through this state of emergency the government had been completely quiet. Non-existent in reality. Even the evacuation teams and aid centers were all run by volunteers or neighborhood groups. The inspection crews were no different and were taking anyone who would go into the infection zone.

For whatever idiotic reason, Daichi, Sugawara, and Asahi had all felt that they qualified for this type of position and had joined rather quickly.

What a mistake.

The inspection crews were sent in for the purpose of finding survivors or people who simply hadn’t heard the alerts. They rarely found that. What they found were primarily corpses—those that had been crushed by debris, had fallen victim to the illness, had been attacked and left for dead by others, and some far, far worse. The few people they did find alive often didn’t even make it to the crews surrounding the area before succumbing to their illness.

Daichi listened to his friends talk amicably behind him. They were talking about some band he had never heard of, something completely normal and bland. If he hadn’t been with them the whole time he would have fallen for the deceptively normal situation.

As it was, Daichi knew their role had taken a toll on his friends. Having lived here their whole lives, they recognized a fair number of the bodies they came across. Asahi would become far too quiet when he went into the quarantine zone and would stay that way for hours after they left. He was always stoic, as if trying to shut out everything he was seeing. Meanwhile, Sugawara constantly woke up screaming, calling random names of friends, neighbors, family…even if he hadn’t seen them in the zone.  

It was nights when Sugawara would scream Daichi’s name that scared him to the core.

“Daiiiiichiiiiii!” He was jolted out of his thoughts by a hand karate chopping his side. Sugawara was standing beside him now, looking at him with an annoyed expression. “Have you heard anything I said?”

“Uh, something about a rock band?” Sugawara’s annoyance didn’t change, and he sighed loudly.

“No. I was saying that we should head over for our run. We scheduled one for today, right?”

“Oh, did we?” Daichi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and Sugawara hit him again.

“You signed us up, shouldn’t you remember?”

“You were there too! Even Asahi was there!”

“Why am I being brought into this!?”

Sugawara huffed and walked back over to where their bags were already packed. They were always ready for travel, only taking out essentials when they needed them and leaving everything else in the tattered backpacks. Picking one up and tossing another to a startled Asahi, Sugawara walked back over with the third one for Daichi.

“Well regardless of whoever wrote it down, we should get going if we don’t want to be late.” Daichi only nodded, taking the bag from Sugawara and letting the shorter boy walk past. He was completely silent as he watched Sugawara from where he stood.

“You worried about something?” Asahi had walked over to him, curiosity showing in his expression. Daichi simply smiled and hit him in the side. “OW! What was that for!?”

“Nothing really.” Daichi walked off to follow Sugawara, ignoring Asahi’s cries of confusion.

There was plenty to worry about. Not saying worries aloud could only shield them so much.

///

Four hours. They had been in the quarantine zone for four tiring hours.

Asahi helped another volunteer lift a large piece of debris that was obscuring a path into a dilapidated building. This was normal. All this destruction and carnage was something that had become completely normal. How morbid.

He knew what to expect though, so when the rubble was cleared and the contents hidden behind it were revealed, Asahi didn’t even blink. Another corpse, another far too common occurrence.

Asahi hadn’t thought it possible to become accustomed to this. He had vomited the very first time he saw a corpse, and could barely look at what had formerly moved and laughed just like he did. Now…now he saw them so often he didn’t even blink. Daichi had teased him before about braving up, but had he? If shutting down any emotional attachment made him brave, then maybe he had become braver. That’s not the definition he was taught though.

The other volunteer thanked him and went to inspect the rest of the building, leaving Asahi with the corpse. It was a teenage girl, relatively attractive and probably an athlete. Who knows what she could have become or done if all this hadn’t happened? Asahi shook his head and moved away from that train of thought. What was done was done after all. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what her name was.

Stepping out of the building, he saw Sugawara coming out of an adjacent alleyway and walked over to his friend. The other boy spotted him and offered a small wave. “Find anyone?”

“Usual.” Sugawara understood the answer and only nodded. He adjusted the medical mask across his face before answering.

“Same for me. They’re never-ending.” He sighed and looked off down the road, as if expecting someone to come from that direction. Asahi turned the same direction in confusion but felt sorrow as soon as he spotted their former high school in the distance.

“Did you ever come down this street, Suga?”

“Huh? I don’t know, maybe. Not enough to remember it if I did. Did you?”

“Maybe. Considering how…how Noya used to drag me around everywhere, I very well may have.”

Silence hung in the air before Sugawara whispered, “…We haven’t found him yet, you know? I haven’t heard of anyone else finding him either.”

“I know. It’s hard though, not knowing.”

“…Asahi?” Sugawara’s voice was so quiet behind his mask that Asahi almost didn’t hear his own name.

“Yeah?”

“Do you…do you hate Daichi and I?”

“Huh!? What are you talking about? There’s no way I could hate you guys! Why? Did I do something or-?”

“No, no, no. Calm down, it’s nothing like that. It’s just…we’re together and all while you don’t even know if Noya is alive.”

“Oh.” Sugawara was taken off guard as Asahi offered a small chuckle. “No, I don’t hate you two. I’m happy that you two have each other. But it’s weird. Not knowing is somehow better than knowing.”

“How is that? I think I’d rather know even if it’s not…well good news.”

“You can probably think like that because you do know. But when you don’t there’s still that small bit of hope. Once you know they’re gone though...well, what else is there to live for?”

“There’s always a light at the end of tunnel.”

“Is there though?”

Sugawara didn’t have a response to the question. It was true, he didn’t know what it was like to be separated or to know someone he loved was dead. He and Daichi hadn’t been separated since this happened, but Asahi had been searching for Nishinoya for the same duration of time.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to get all depressing there.” Asahi was looking a bit sheepishly at Sugawara and the shorter boy forced a small grin behind the mask.

“Yeah, no point in talking about this now. Shall we get moving? I think Daichi’s up ahead.”

“Oh, yeah, we should get going! Don’t want to be late meeting with him.” Asahi quickly grabbed his bag from off the ground and readjusted his own mask. He started almost speed walking away, forcing Sugawara to follow with a small jog.

“He’s not going to hit you for being late you know?”

“You don’t know that!”

///

A pair of lidded eyes stared straight back at him as he rounded the street corner. Their dull brown color seemed to see through him as he immediately recognized the corpse’s signature dyed fluff of hair lying flat against its head.

He ran over without thinking and checked the cold corpse for any sign of life. Anything at all, any small chance. There was nothing. He backed away and held his hand over his mouth, despite a mask already being there. He felt sick. He felt so, so sick.

Daichi couldn’t let Asahi come back here.

He stepped back around the street corner, unable to stay with the corpse of a dear friend. Daichi took this time to return his breathing to normal, to get the sick feeling out of his stomach, and to regain his composure. He succeeded in two of the three.

“Daiichiii!” A call resounded from one of the small pathways to his left. He felt horrible when the thought ‘good’ shot across his thoughts. They were coming from the other direction, he could still redirect them.

“Over here!” Sugawara and Asahi turned to see him standing alone and walked over to join him. Daichi tried to conceal his nervousness, fix his fractured composure, but he could tell it hadn’t succeeded.

“Everything alright?” Sugawara asked and Daichi could practically hear the worry seeping from such a simple question.

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine. It’s…well…” Daichi took one look at Sugawara’s face and knew he couldn’t lie. “No.”

“Did something happen?” Asahi. Daichi had to make sure that above all else, Asahi didn’t go down that walkway.

Skew the truth. If he could skew the truth it would be believable. “I found a corpse of…of someone I knew. An old friend.”

“Daichi…” Sugawara was hugging him before he could even process anything further. “Was it someone from Karasuno?”

“…No. It was…a middle school friend.” The lie felt bitter on his tongue. Sugawara backed away enough so they could see each other face-to-face.

“It wasn’t that boy we played against at Interhigh, was it?” Daichi shook his head in the negative.

“I-It’s okay Suga. I’m fine, just we should go. The next area still needs to be inspected after all.”

“Daichi, there’s no need to rush. You just lost a friend, didn’t you? You need time to mourn before we go any further.”

“No no, I’m fine really. I’ve mourned enough, I can go right now.” Sugawara appeared puzzled by Daichi’s rush, but he needed to get them all out of there before they saw him. “But really, Asahi we should—”

Asahi wasn’t standing where he had been previously.

Daichi swore to himself, he had been too distracted talking to Sugawara he hadn’t been watching the person he should’ve been. There was only one place he would have wandered off to, and Daichi didn’t think twice before running back down the short pathway and rounding the street corner once more. He felt sick all over again.

Asahi was there, eerily resembling a statue as he cradled the corpse in his lap. He didn’t move as Daichi approached and Sugawara rounded the corner with a gasp. Asahi had closed the eyes, giving the impression that the boy in his arms was only sleeping and not beginning to decay.

“You were trying to shield me, weren’t you Daichi?” Asahi’s voice was lifeless, tired and Daichi cringed at the hollow tone.

“Asahi…”

“I didn’t really want to find Noya like this…but I can’t say I’m really surprised…”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“I’m being honest.”

“Asahi.”

“Maybe if we’d come here sooner…”

A loud thwack echoed in the silence. Daichi had hit Asahi’s back with his fist, yet the ace had barely moved. That was enough negativity in Daichi’s opinion. Sugawara had finally managed to walk over with tears streaming down his face. This wasn’t happening. Why was this happening to them now, and when everything had been seemingly good for them? _Seemingly._

“Sorry Daichi. Heh, I guess I should just be happy we found him at all.”

“Asahi…” Sugawara croaked out as he walked over and gently set a hand on his shoulder. “We should bring him back to the perimeter so he can be properly buried.”

“Suga, we both know that they don’t bury the bodies anymore.” Sugawara’s grip on his shoulder tightened and Daichi almost stepped in to make him let go.

“We can arrange something. We could bury him ourselves!”

“They won’t let an infected corpse out of here. You know that.”

“We can…we can…we’ll think of something…”

“…I’m staying.” This declaration caught Daichi and Sugawara off guard. Asahi was completely silent, still holding Nishinoya and not turning to face the others.

“What the hell are you talking about? We’re not leaving you here!” It was Sugawara who was yelling, Daichi too stunned to respond. “We’re going to figure this out and that doesn’t include abandoning you here!”

“Suga please-”

“No! Just downright no, Asahi! We’re not just going to leave you here to die of sickness like everyone else! You’re coming with us!” The tears were making his words choked and raspy. His grip on Asahi’s shoulder was unrelenting at this point and he pulled him back towards them. “Asahi, we need to move on-”

Asahi ripped off his face mask, staring straight at Sugawara as he did so. “I’m. Staying.”

“No…why…” Sugawara finally released Asahi’s shoulder and Daichi took this chance to support the ash-haired boy as he crumbled. “Why’d you do that Asahi?”

“Daichi, please watch after Suga for both me and Noya.” Daichi knew immediately what Asahi was asking him to do. He bit his lip and took a firm hold of Sugawara’s hand.

“I’m sorry Asahi, Noya.” Daichi bit his lip, bracing himself for what he was about to do. “Suga.”

“Daichi?” Sugawara was caught off guard as Daichi started running back towards the perimeter, dragging the other boy along with him. “Daichi!? What are you doing!? We can’t just leave them!”

Sugawara continued to yell at him as they ran, but he never stopped running. Daichi recited a mantra of _I’m sorry I’m sorry_ in his head over and over as they went. If only he had kept them away. If only he hadn’t found Nishinoya at all. Would none of this had happened?

Asahi watched them go sorrowfully. He had chosen his fate the minute he took off his mask, exposing himself to the fumes. It had been selfish and childish, but as he looked down at the boy in his arms he didn’t regret his decision. Asahi held Nishinoya closer, brushing his hand gently through the younger boy’s hair. Nishinoya was cold, unmoving in a way that was completely uncharacteristic of Karasuno’s Guardian Deity. This wasn’t right and all Asahi could do was cry as he held the one he loved as close as he could.

“Sorry Noya. I’ve let you down again…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This somehow ended up a lot shorter than the other Requiem.  
> And that update schedule being more regular...yeah, that didn't happen.   
> Also, in case it wasn't clear, that is the same sink hole that Kageyama fell into. The fumes are what actually killed Natsu, and Hinata was taken away from the area soon enough that he wasn't infected.  
> Thank you all for reading!


	6. The Third Symphony

**6 months post bombing**

Daichi and Sugawara had been with the settlement group for a few weeks now and Iwaizumi was struggling to keep his patience with everyone. He was the only one who would go out of his way to talk to the newcomers or share their supplies. He couldn’t blame Kyoutani for his silence, he hadn’t known them in the first place. Hinata on the other hand…

The short middle blocker had become so hung up on the ‘rules’ that Iwaizumi was beginning to regret even following in the first place. They had only been meant to help keep Hinata from breaking down when they had first met back in Miyagi, but they had become so twisted and unrecognizably strict to Hinata. He wouldn’t even look at his old teammates with anything other than indifference.

_“You don’t have to follow them, you know? They’re meant to help him, not us.”_

The words echoed in his head and Iwaizumi would have slapped himself if it weren’t for the gardening tools in his hands. Iwaizumi was currently tending to their limited crop supply with the help of Sugawara. The sun had barely risen above the horizon, painting everything in dull tones and hues. Admittedly this dullness made it a bit difficult for Iwaizumi to see what he was doing in his tired state. This became abundantly clear as he accidentally prodded himself with the small makeshift shovel he had been using.

“Are you okay, Iwaizumi?” Sugawara’s motherly nature had him nearly dropping his own tools, but Iwaizumi waved him off before he had the chance.

“I’m fine. I’m just going to go wash it off in the stream to make sure it isn’t anything. Will you be okay by yourself for a bit?” Sugawara nodded and Iwaizumi could feel brown eyes boring into his back as he walked away. Honestly the mother hen bit was starting to border on obsessively protective.

The little crop field was only a short walk from the settlement, but the small stream ran along the opposite end. This meant Iwaizumi would have to walk across the entire settlement to get to it. Walking past their little ‘home’ Iwaizumi could tell that both Hinata and Kyoutani were likely still asleep from the silence. The same could be said for Daichi as Iwaizumi glanced over at the other structure, now being repaired slowly with his own assistance.

In the center of town stood the remains of the stage that Iwaizumi had seen countless events and speeches take place on. Yet he cursed its very existence as one particular event stood out from the others, singe marks still identifiable on the remaining boards. Iwaizumi nearly forgot what he was doing as he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the dilapidated structure.

Pulling his eyes away from the stage, he continued onwards to the stream. It didn’t take him long to clean off the dirt and blood from the admittedly small cut. It was probably unnecessary to cover such a small abrasion, but he didn’t want to risk any chance of infection in such dire times. He glanced back at the water, noting his own reflection staring back at him.

He looked tired.

Iwaizumi laughed silently to himself. Of course he looked tired, probably a good amount of stress in there too. He was so busy deprecating his own appearance that he nearly missed the second face reflected to his side.

A large weight tackled him into the small stream, his front scraping roughly against the small stones lying just underneath the shallow surface. Soft laughter filled the air as Iwaizumi struggled to free his hands that were being bound by another pair around his wrists. He was struggling just to keep his head above the few inches of water as he tried to free himself.

He couldn’t breathe.

Iwaizumi tried to stay calm, deciding to play possum. It took a few seconds, but as soon as he felt the weight of his restraints lessen he pushed himself up. The other person clung to him, but the important thing was that Iwaizumi had his head above water. He turned to glare at the person on his back, despite already knowing who it was.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

“How cruel, Iwa-chan! After I waited sooo long for you to finally come over and see me!” Iwaizumi simply groaned, rolling over so the other fell into the water. The other boy sat up after flailing for a bit and glared at Iwaizumi. “How could you Iwa-chan! Now my hair is going to be all messed up.”

“You’ll live.” Once out of the stream, Iwaizumi turned to his old friend. Oikawa looked the same as always, far too pretty and that thick layer of fake self-confidence as present as ever. The brunette simply smiled up at him, and Iwaizumi did his best to ignore the burnt tips of his hair and long red mark marring his neck.

“What took you so long anyway? You usually come over to talk to me more frequently. Since you won’t let me stay in the settlement with you all…”

“I’ve been busy. Surely even you’ve noticed we have two new people staying with us and on top of that Hinata is being…well, Hinata.” Oikawa’s playful expression clouded over and he looked far too forlorn for Iwaizumi’s liking.

“You know it’s been hard for him. Just give it some time and he should be able to at least interact with them again.”

“We can only hope.” Oikawa had stood up at this point and was wringing the water out of his clothing. He walked over to Iwaizumi and leaned his head on the shorter boy’s shoulder from behind.

“He’ll be okay. You worry too much, Iwa-chan. How’s Mad Dog-chan?”

“As he usually is: quiet, but obedient.”

“That’s how he always was for you. He never listened to anything I told him to do.”

“It was probably because of your bad personality.”

“Iwa-chan, so mean!” Oikawa pouted and it took everything in Iwaizumi’s power not to ruffle his head. He needed to leave before this got any worse than it already was. Iwaizumi wasn’t supposed to be here. Oikawa seemed to pick up on this desire as he began to slowly wrap his arms around the other boy. “You don’t have to go back quite yet, do you? You could always stay out here with me, the others can take care of themselves.”

_Don’t stay. You know why you can’t. This isn’t possible and you know it._

_…but…there is a way, isn’t there?_

The voice of reason inside his head rings hollow as Iwaizumi feels the hands that had been previously around his torso slowly rise up to caress his face. Iwaizumi turns around to face Oikawa who is simply staring at him. At this proximity Iwaizumi has a clear view of the marred skin of the other, spreading down his throat to hide a much more grotesque scene underneath the thin layers of clothing.

“Tooru—”

“Stay. _Please_.”

His resistance was wearing thin as he was pulled in even closer, nearly being engulfed by Oikawa’s larger frame. Iwaizumi could easily catch Oikawa’s scent from this close. The memories of pleasantly scented shampoo and a light haze of cologne that he had anticipated were shattered as the rancid aroma of something burning filled his nostrils.

Iwaizumi pushed away abruptly, turning back toward the settlement without looking at Oikawa. He was only a few paces away and he could already feel the sting of tears conflicting with the overwhelming urge to vomit. He simply kept running, away from the stream, away from the nausea…away from Oikawa.

His foot slipped on the loose gravel and he fell unceremoniously, simply trying to protect his face with his arms from the gravel. Iwaizumi lifted himself up shakily, his breathing growing more and more erratic as the seconds passed. He glanced to his side and froze.

The stage. That cursed stage was right next to him, looming over him. He scrambled away as quickly as he could, back eventually running into one of the houses that had been behind him. His breathing was only getting worse, harsher, as he curled in on himself. Chilling images seemed to play on repeat over and over in his head and he couldn’t make them stop.

“I~wa~chan~~!”

Iwaizumi lifted his head just enough to see Oikawa, standing in front of the stage grinning at him. The brunette walked slowly closer until he was crouching down in front of Iwaizumi.

“Why’d you run off like that Iwa-chan?”

“I’m sorry.”

“That was really mean you know!”

“I’m sorry.”

“But it’s okay! Being the nice person I am, I forgive Iwa-chan.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Although…why did you leave me _there_ Iwa-chan?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was really hot, you know? The flames?”

“I’m sorry.”

“And everyone was yelling at me, throwing things at me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“When it should have been _you_.”

“I’M SORRY.”

“This was _your_ fault.”

“PLEASE STOP.”

“Shouldn’t you have been up on that stage?”

“ _PLEASE!_ ”

“I wouldn’t be like this.”

“You’re not here.”

“I wouldn’t be burned like this, Iwa-chan.”

“You’re not real.”

“But you _let_ me be burned.”

“Leave me alone.”

“This is all _your_ fault.”

“You’re not-”

” _Everything is your fault._ ”

“YOU’RE DEAD!”

“IWAIZUMI!?”

His eyes shot open, he hadn’t even realized he had closed them in the first place. Sugawara was crouched down in front of him, looking scared and unsure of what to do. Iwaizumi looked around the area, realizing it was only the two of them.

“I-Iwaizumi? Are you alright?” Sugawara sounded more frightened than he was. Iwaizumi felt guilty for putting him in a situation like this, not that even he knew how to handle it.

“I’m sorry.”

“Please stop saying that. Here, let me help you up.” Sugawara wrapped his arm around Iwaizumi’s waist, lifting him up with surprising strength and he began leading the both of them towards Iwaizumi’s house. “Will Kyoutani or Hinata know what to do?”

“Yes. This has…this has happened before.” Iwaizumi braced himself for the questions that he knew were coming. Why had he freaked out? Why was he wet? What had happened? What—

“I won’t ask.” Iwaizumi looked over to Sugawara in surprise but the other boy was still looking ahead. “You have your secrets, I have mine. If you want to tell me you can, but I won’t probe for answers. You probably need rest above everything right now.”

They walked up to the door and Sugawara knocked loudly enough for someone inside to hear. It only took a few seconds before Kyoutani opened the door and went stock still as his eyes fell on Iwaizumi. All Iwaizumi could do was wave weakly and offer a small smile that he knew was completely useless.

“You saw him again?” Iwaizumi only nodded in acknowledgement. Something dark and unreadable crossed over Kyoutani’s expression before he continued. “Did he try to drown you again?”

Sugawara watched in silence, feeling like the outsider he knew he was as Iwaizumi only nodded once more. Kyoutani reached out, taking Iwaizumi from Sugawara and offering a quiet thanks to him before leading the older boy inside.

“Well, um, I’m just going to…” Sugawara motioned towards his own house and began to turn away.

“Thank you.” He stopped and glanced back at Iwaizumi. “For…ya know, not asking.”

Sugawara simply smiled, comfortably walking away towards his own home this time.

///

“It’s because he keeps breaking the first rule, you know? He said it himself, we can’t move on if we keep clinging to something that’s not there.”

“You make it sound like you’ve moved on.”

“Never.”

“Then shut up, Hinata.”

Kyoutani and Hinata were sitting side by side, the former sharpening one of their hunting knives while the latter simply observed. They were both waiting for Iwaizumi to awaken, having collapsed into slumber almost immediately after being brought back by Sugawara.

“It’s not like you’ve really moved on either. Even if you didn’t lose a lover.”

“I told you to shut up.”

“But if I’m just sitting here, I’ll be bored.”

“Not my problem.”

Hinata huffed dramatically, but Kyoutani had been around him long enough not to fall for the childish display. And after five minutes of silence, Hinata was also aware that his display hadn’t had any effect.

“Fine then.” Hinata stood up and walked over to the door, making sure to swing his arms and legs in the most obnoxiously obvious way possible. Kyoutani still ignored him. “I’m going for a walk!”

“Have fun.”

“Of course I will! Come get me when Iwaizumi wakes up though.” Kyoutani only nodded, making a dismissive motion with his hand to which Hinata stuck out his tongue.

Once outside, Hinata grew silent and began to walk aimlessly. He had never liked this little settlement, not when it was full of people and not when it was empty. This place had never been anything but a prison for him, but he wasn’t willing to leave it if his companions wouldn’t. Which, in all honesty, he had always found a little odd. Why stay in a place that stole everything from you?

Water splashed against his feet, pulling Hinata out of his thoughts. He felt like a complete idiot, being so distracted he literally walked into the stream. Letting out a sigh that sounded suspiciously like whining, he stepped out of the stream and took off his shoes. They were already so worn, the last thing he needed was to get them soaked.

Hinata was just setting his shoes up on a large rock when he heard splashing coming from further downstream. Instinctively, he reached for his knife that was usually on his side. Key word: usually. Hinata cursed under his breath, but knew he had better investigate before the intruder made their way into the settlement. He focused on listening for the person-no people-up ahead of him. He moved slowly, stealthily, remaining undetected until he was close enough that he could hear them speaking.

“—going to do now?”

“I…I don’t know.” Hinata thought that the two voices sounded familiar, but he was still cautious in getting closer.

“Could we finally have a burial?” A third voice spoke up, somewhat hopeful but lacking any real emotion.

“Maybe. Looks like there might be a town or something up ahead.”

“I wonder if there will be any people…I’d rather not run into anyone. Not while he’s…” The voice trailed off, and Hinata was left to wonder if perhaps one of them was incapacitated. They had also mentioned a burial though. He needed to get closer.

Hinata could tell from their tones that they were tired, probably from walking from wherever they came from. It was so early in the day, he speculated that they likely walked through the night. Dangerous in these days, but perhaps they had been fleeing from something else? There were definitely three of them, possibly a fourth but he couldn’t be certain from the little information he had heard. If he was lucky, he could spot them without them spotting him.

The group suddenly began moving before he could, leaving Hinata frozen in place as he realized they were walking straight towards him. Hinata went completely mute, going as far as to hold his own breath, as the mystery group walked right by him.

Wait, he recognized them. His attention was immediately drawn to the limp form being carried by one of them. Yet with the horrible sight, he knew he could trust them. Hinata walked out from where he was hiding and called out to them.

“What are you guys doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah uh...my job and vacations got me really busy these days. Ironically I might have more time when I go back to campus in August. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Also, someone asked before why the ships are tagged if they're so quick and abrupt. That's mainly because when I was making these it was basically with the mindset, 'how tragically can I split these two up'. It was my friend who even got me to connect all of them, but because of that ships are very abruptly brought in and ended, but I put the tags because they are there even if it's for a short time.


End file.
